Braunschweig
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| Sandra and I enjoying peaches in Braunschweig's street markets |
As you begin reading this blog you will soon realize that we
aren’t riding our Vstrom but rather we have rented a car. Blasphemy you say!
Well, you will understand soon enough, and we’ll re-assure our friends this is
a short term use of 4 wheels over 2.
We planned our northern trip and took into account the
northern climate, time of year, and terrain and determined that we’d possibly
do it by a small RV or rental car. As it turns out the rental car was the practical
choice but by no means the most enjoyable one.
We begin by flying in to Amsterdam and renting the car from
there. Since our trip will cover former eastern European countries many car
rental companies especially in the Netherlands won’t allow them to enter those
former eastern bloc countries. At this time AVIS and Sixt do, with Avis being
the most reasonable, professional to deal with. With car in tow we head out for
Braunschweig for our friend Heiko’s birthday, and the opportunity to meet his
sister Ingrid and mother, who just turned 95.
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| Bicycling in Braunschweig, Heiko with Sandra |
After an evening of catch up, we were outfitted with
bicycles and Heiko took us for a tour of Braunschweig, his hometown and a city
which exists now as the human resource hub for VW, and it’s plant in Wolfsburg
some 30 kms away. We were really impressed with the green belt nature of the
city that with a population of 250,000 has a very small town feel, friendly
people, a bakery to fetch your fresh morning bread, and another for your evening
gelato.
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| ROSSO, Ingrid's Shoe Store |
We rode into the centre of town where Heiko’s sister Ingrid
runs "Roeser", a high end shoe store right in the old town centre.
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| Sword Sharpening Marks on the outer door of the Church |
We parked the
bikes for a bit and toured the old town with a visit to the Lutheran church
that Heiko was baptized in. We joke to him that apparently it didn’t take.
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| Cannonball from Medieval times stuck in Church wall |
Braunschweig was of course a target during the WW II, and
has in it, stumbling stones, small metal cobblestones with the names of Jewish
citizens who were deported or murdered. It is sobering when these are found
everywhere in town. As you will see as we write this trip there will be more
reminders of the Holocaust be it here, Berlin, or Warsaw. This is important,
especially considering a certain candidate for president in the USA.
Next we ride south to the other end of town where we
encounter a street market and we spot fresh peaches. At top of page is a shot of Sandra and I walking and eating, a candid by Heiko! In all we ride over 20 kms that day, most of it on the flat , thank heavens since it is hot! Later that afternoon
we have the honor to meet Heiko’s mom, who is now 95 and she had us over for
coffee and cheesecake, which she had prepared.
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| Heiko's mom and Us |
Heiko provides translation between us and his mom. When we suggest a
picture she is up and in the mix with a big smile. Heiko later jokes to Ingrid when reporting the coffee and cake afternoon that an alien possessed his mother's body while we visited. But both are very
caring and passionate about their mother, and it shows. As we leave
Braunschweig heading east we are happy for Heiko, as we both loved our mom’s
dearly and he still has his in such good health. Thanks for being able
to experience life within their family circle, simple and beautiful.
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